Leaders of the G7 nations (the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US) are coming together in the city of Carbis Bay, Cornwall, in order to discuss global issues, including the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental problems, and global security challenges.
At the same time, the summit welcomes leaders of guest countries, including Australia, India, South Africa, and South Korea.
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden on Sunday said that the new infrastructure initiative of the G7 bloc would be a better option for the world's developing countries than China's Belt and Road Initiative.
The Chinese government adopted the infrastructure development strategy in 2013 to expand the country's economic and political influence through financing multiple infrastructure and development projects in nearly 70 countries and international organisations.
"We also made a momentous commitment at the G7 to help meet the more than $40-trillion need that exists for infrastructure in the developing world. I put forward an idea that we named the Build Back Better World Partnership... China has its Belt and Road Initiative, and we think that there's a much more equitable way to provide for the needs of countries around the world", Biden told a press conference.
En route to @COP26!@G7 partners are signing off on a landmark joint commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 (latest) & keeping a 1.5°C temperature rise within reach.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 13, 2021
We will do everything we can to stick to 1.5 pic.twitter.com/jExPg2WLhQ
MOSCOW(Sputnik) - The leaders of the G7 nations have agreed to remove forced labour from global supply chains, and ensure that human rights and international labour standards are upheld, the White House said on Sunday.
"Leaders agreed on the importance of upholding human rights and of international labor standards, and committed to protect individuals from forced labor. We welcome the commitment of our G7 partners to ensure all global supply chains are free from the use of forced labor", the White House statement read.
The White House also mentioned goods produced by alleged human rights victims in the Chinese region of Xinjiang.
The United States has pushed to restrict the import of goods allegedly produced by forced laborers in Xinjiang, although the Chinese government has denied all accusations of abuse in the Xinjiang region.
The leaders of the G7 nations have also agreed to take collective action against corruption.
"Together with our G7 partners, the United States is resolved to taking meaningful actions to effectively combat corruption, such as tackling the misuse of shell companies, limiting the ability of bad actors to launder dirty money in real estate purchases, improving corruption-related information sharing, and reforming foreign assistance to focus on anticorruption as a cross-cutting priority. We welcome the G7 commitment to take collective action in combatting corruption", the White House said.
Additionally, the Group of Seven pledged to work together to fight the growing ransomware threat, the White House said on Sunday.
"Ransomware is a longstanding global challenge, and the threat continues to escalate in both scale and sophistication. ... The international community—both governments and private sector actors—must work together to ensure that critical infrastructure is resilient against this threat. ... The United States and our G7 partners are committed to working together to urgently address the escalating shared threat from criminal ransomware networks", the White House said in a statement.
It added that in the past few weeks there had been several cyberattacks targeting G7 and other nations’ infrastructure.
"These transnational criminal enterprises leverage infrastructure, virtual currency, and money laundering networks, and target victims all over the globe, often operating from geographic locations that offer a permissive environment for carrying out such malicious cyber activities", the statement read.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The leaders of the G7 nations have agreed to accelerate both the production of COVID-19 vaccines and their delivery across the globe, Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said Sunday.
"We spent three days trying to align the position of the world's biggest democracies. The priority was to ensure we can meet the demand for vaccines and here the EU has taken the leadership. Partners have now joined us to accelerate production and delivery of vaccines worldwide", Michel said in a video message published online.
The European Council president also said that the EU's efforts to mobilise more funds to strengthen ties with Africa were also well received by the G7 leaders.
"Another point, of special significance to me, is our engagement with Africa. For some years already, with some in Europe, we are convinced that this engagement with Africa needs to be strengthened at the heart of our future international relations. Increasingly, we've been able to unify the positions of European countries on this issue and now we've convinced our partners to further mobilize funds to secure a win-win strategy for Africa and Europe", Michel added.
BERLIN (Sputnik) - G7 countries will deliver 2.3 billion vaccine doses against COVID-19 to developing countries by late 2022, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.
"We thoroughly discussed again that everyone must have an access to the vaccine. Hence our signal – by late 2022, 2.3 billion vaccines will be supplied to developing countries. Germany takes active part in it", Merkel said during the press conference.
According to the chancellor, the vaccine's production must be established in Africa as well; Germany's BioNTech company actively works in this direction.
Merkel added that Germany will provide 350 million vaccine doses through different international mechanisms.
"We...call for a timely, transparent, expert-led, and science-based WHO-convened Phase 2 COVID-19 Origins study including, as recommended by the experts’ report, in China", Reuters reported citing the draft communique.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The leaders of the G7 nations have agreed to step up their coordination and information sharing practices on issues of cybercrime, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday.
"We need a robust joint response to cybercrimes, especially ransomware. We agreed to step up information sharing and to coordinate more closely on police investigations and diplomatic measures", von der Leyen, who is attending the ongoing G7 summit in the United Kingdom, wrote on Twitter.
We need a robust joint response to cybercrimes, especially ransomware.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 13, 2021
We agreed to step up information sharing and to coordinate more closely on police investigations and diplomatic measures.
The European Commission president stated that Europe is "fighting disinformation every day," and added that efforts would be redoubled to tackle "foreign interference."
Cybersecurity is set to be a major topic of discussion for world leaders at Monday's NATO summit, due to take place in Brussels.
A surge of ransomware attacks has swept over the globe over recent weeks. Most notably, the Colonial Pipeline in the United States was shut down for five days after it was attacked in May.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to strengthen trade and security ties between London and Seoul during a bilateral meeting on the margins of the ongoing G7 summit on Sunday, Downing Street said.
"The Prime Minister met President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea today at the G7 Summit in Cornwall. The two leaders set out their commitment to increasing UK-South Korea links across trade, security and defence, as the UK strengthens its ties with the Indo-Pacific region", Downing Street said in a press release.
Johnson is said to have expressed the United Kingdom's "full support" for Seoul's security policy in the Korean Peninsula, and both leaders also addressed the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), set to take place in Glasgow this fall.
Moon Jae-in was one of the non-G7 leaders invited to this year's in-person summit, which is being held at Carbis Bay in the English county of Cornwall.
The summit, which began on Friday, is set to wrap up on Sunday afternoon. The heads of state are slated to publish a joint communique at 13:00 GMT, and Johnson is expected to hold a press conference starting at 13:05.
